From the author: Regular contributor to Happy Parents magazine since 2002. When will he sleep at night? The question that all sleep-deprived mothers ask. Be patient...it will happen. A child who sleeps peacefully at night a few weeks after arriving from the hospital is a dream that is almost impossible to achieve. Of course, we all remember our nephews, children of friends or colleagues who, from the first days, slept from 11 pm to 6 am. But this is a rarity, a wonderful gift for the lucky ones. What about everyone else? Most infants develop the ability to sleep soundly for several hours between 3 and 6 months. Their internal clocks are adjusted, and they, like us adults, can sleep for long periods of time at night. They have adapted to life on earth! But for some children, the adaptation process is slower and you will need more effort and patience to help the baby. Let's look at a few basic rules that will help your baby sleep peacefully through the night. From birth to 6 months Be patient. Live in his rhythm. Until about three months, the baby’s day is subject to the rhythm of feedings. During this period, you have to adapt to its rhythm, temporarily sacrificing your own. By following your baby, you provide him with the peace and stability he needs. Feeding, bathing, sleeping, feeding, walking - the routine of infant life, which may seem burdensome to you, but is necessary for him. Don't carry your little one with you everywhere! Only in exceptional cases can you take your baby to the supermarket when you go shopping, or to dinner at a restaurant with friends. After 3 months, the baby’s internal clock will gradually adjust to 24 hours, like an adult’s, and then you will be able to plan joint “outings” without compromising the baby’s routine. In the womb, the baby was constantly in the dark, felt neither hunger nor cold, and slept as much as I wanted. After birth, the baby must gradually adapt to the new environment. Our world is another planet for him! And he needs time to figure out how everything works here, to accept the rules that are established here. It will take him several weeks to several months to learn to stay awake during the day and sleep at night! Help your baby adjust by emphasizing the contrast between day and night from the first days of his life. Talk to your child during the day, encourage him to communicate, and when he sleeps, do not close the door to his room. During daytime sleep, the baby does not need absolute silence; a little noise in the house will not disturb him. At night, on the contrary, close the curtains tightly and turn off the lights in his room. During night feeding, do not turn on the light or talk to the baby. And don’t leave the night light on - children up to two years old are not afraid of the dark. Teach your baby to fall asleep on his own. From the first days, your baby often falls asleep in your arms, immediately after feeding. It is important for him to feel close to you when falling asleep... But after a few weeks, gradually begin to teach your child to fall asleep in the crib to avoid the formation of a conditioned reflex. The baby gets used to falling asleep next to you, lulled by your voice and the beat of your heart. As a result, when he wakes up in the middle of the night, he needs the same conditions to fall back to sleep. But this is not a rule, but advice; rely, first of all, on your sensitivity. Sometimes the baby needs you more, and you need to hold him in your arms until he falls asleep, sometimes, with a calm heart, you can put him in his crib and enjoy a peaceful sleep. If the baby starts crying, don’t pick him up right away; first try to talk to him quietly and affectionately, sing a lullaby, put your hand on his tummy. Perhaps this will be enough. If you are unable to get him back to sleep within a few minutes, take the little one in your arms and try to understand what is bothering him. Put your baby to bed in a separate room as early as possible. In the first weeks, you can place a cradle near your bed. It will be calmer andfor the baby and for you, and is also very convenient for breastfeeding. But, after 6 months, it is preferable to place the child in his own room. If you leave it in your bedroom, you will very soon become convinced that the light, your conversations, and your steps will disturb your growing child’s sleep. And you will, willy-nilly, continue to adapt to the baby’s regime, but it’s time for you to return to your own. And, importantly, the presence of a baby can interfere with your intimacy. Do not put your baby in your bed during the day; it will be healthier for him, both day and night, to sleep in his own crib. A familiar environment calms the baby. This way, he will sooner learn to fall asleep calmly and on his own. Take care of yourself. Tired, easily excitable, ready to worry about trifles. Do you recognize yourself in this portrait of a young mother who watches her baby’s every breath and cries when he doesn’t finish the milk from the bottle? Learn to relax, do breathing exercises, find time to take a bath, go to bed during the baby's nap. The calmer you are, the more confidence you will instill in your baby. The child absorbs your emotions like a sponge, he feels the anxiety of the parents, and especially the mother, and this interferes with normal sleep. Do not run to every cry. Up to three months, the baby’s sleep is restless and shallow: he moves his arms and legs, opens his eyes slightly, winces , makes sounds... If you run to him at every sound and pick him up, you will disrupt the rhythm of his sleep. Moreover, some children need to cry to fall asleep. Don't rush into your baby's room at the slightest noise, wait a couple of minutes. Starting from 6-9 months Take control of the situation. If your baby doesn't sleep peacefully through the night after 6 months, it means something is wrong in his sleep organization. When a baby has trouble falling asleep and often wakes up, the reason may be that he lacks emotional contact with his mother, if she is too tired during the day, experiences postpartum depression, or goes to work. It is also worth thinking about possible problems at the physiological level: it is possible that he is bothered by colic or is overly excitable. It is best to consult a pediatrician. As soon as you rule out health problems, if necessary, you can contact a child psychologist or early childhood specialist. In the meantime, try to answer these questions for yourself: How did my child spend his day? According to experts, siestas are too early (before 9 a.m.), too frequent or sleeping too late during the day (after 4:30 p.m.) can interfere with the formation of a normal sleep-wake pattern. If your baby is used to falling asleep for short periods of time several times during the day, there is a risk that he will sleep the same way at night. In addition, if you work during the day, he finds it difficult to leave you in the evening, and at night he wakes up to be with you a little more. Review your baby's daytime sleep schedule, and in the evenings spend time with him as fully involved as possible, postponing all household chores for later. What does he do before bed? Playing hide and seek or tickle with dad? Watching TV on mom's lap? Then perhaps your baby goes to bed excited, or his head is filled with images of what he saw on TV. A small child has difficulty coping with overstimulation; it is better to postpone vigorous games until the morning, and eliminate the TV altogether. To help your child fall asleep peacefully, caress him, give him a bath - if bathing relaxes him. Pay close attention to the signals. Does the child rub his eyes, yawn, whine, or cuddle his favorite toy with which he sleeps? Hurry up to bed, and it’s okay if he didn’t have time to drink his yogurt! Before you start putting your baby to bed, dim the lights in his room. How does he fall asleep? From 9 months onwards, if a child often wakes up in the middle of the night and cries, most often we are dealing with an incorrect sleep reflex. And the problem is not frequent awakenings - this can happen when the sleep phase changes, during the first years of life, but the child’s inability to fall asleep on his own again. He's so.